A free school, often intentionally spelled free skool, is a decentralized network in which skills, information, and knowledge are shared without hierarchy or the institutional environment of formal schooling. The open structure of a free school is intended to encourage self-reliance, critical consciousness, and personal development.

It is, at heart, non-institutional and non-authoritarian. Generally, it is a grassroots effort, a collection of individuals acting collectively and autonomously to create educational opportunities and skill-sharing within their communities.

Free schools often operate outside the market economy in favor of a gift economy. Nevertheless, the meaning of the “free” of free schools is not restricted to monetary cost, and can refer to an emphasis on free speech and open learning.

List of free schools in the US and other parts of the world